France’s President Emmanuel Macron declared that the “time of European naïveté” towards China was over as Xi Jinping met officials in Rome to discuss Italy’s agreement in joining the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), said the Financial Times.
Following a meeting in Brussels, the French president expressed how he welcomed plans to implement stricter rules for Chinese investments, as well as emending EU antitrust rules to facilitate mergers between European groups.
“For many years we had
an uncoordinated approach and China took advantage of our divisions,” said
Macron.
The EU is split over China’s BRI, with 13 central and eastern states having
been enlisted in the infrastructure development and investment scheme. Italy is
the first G7 country to sign a memorandum of understanding and endorse the
initiative.